When Not Hiring Permanently Is Sometimes the Better Decision

Over the past 14 years, I have had the opportunity to experience organizations from very different perspectives.

I started my career as a financial consultant, working directly within companies and experiencing first-hand the challenges organizations face when they are growing, changing, restructuring or professionalizing their functions.

I then spent five years within the Big Four, followed by nearly seven years at Robert Half, an international recruitment and staffing firm, where I took on different roles and ultimately led the Interim Management business across the Brussels, Diegem, Groot-Bijgaarden and Limburg offices.

During those last seven years, I worked closely with a wide range of companies, supporting them through periods of growth, transformation, restructuring and change. At the same time, I worked closely with the permanent recruitment divisions, giving me a valuable perspective on both sides of the equation: understanding the immediate need to fill a vacancy, while also looking at what the organization will actually need in the longer term.

Today, as Managing Partner of a scale-up specialising in Interim Management, Permanent Recruitment and Executive Search across the Brussels and Flemish Brabant regions, I continue to see the same situation arise.

A key person leaves, a vacancy suddenly needs to be filled, and the natural reaction is:

“We need to replace the person who left.”

But based on my experience — from working inside companies, advising organizations, and working closely with both interim and permanent recruitment teams — I believe there is often a more fundamental question that should be asked first:

“What should this function look like in the future, and what kind of profile do we actually need?”

Because sometimes, the vacancy is not simply a vacancy.

It is a signal that the organization itself is changing.

A company may be growing, restructuring, transforming a department, introducing new technology, implementing AI and automation, or professionalizing a function that has evolved faster than its organizational structure.

And when that happens, recruiting a permanent person immediately — based on the role as it exists today — may not always be the best starting point.

Sometimes, the smarter decision is to first create clarity.

Consider a Finance, HR, Supply Chain or Commercial function that is undergoing significant change.

Processes may be unclear, responsibilities may overlap, reporting lines may be evolving, systems may need to be replaced, and some activities may be suitable for automation.

Yet the organization starts recruiting a permanent manager based on the current situation.

That can be a difficult starting point.

The new manager enters a structure that is still moving. Expectations may change, the role may turn out to be broader or narrower than initially expected, and the organization may eventually discover that it needs a different profile altogether.

That is not necessarily a recruitment failure.

It may simply be a timing issue.

This is where interim management can make a difference.

An experienced interim manager can provide the bridge between the organization you have today and the organization you want to build.

Their role should go beyond simply keeping the function running.

They can:

• Bring structure and stability.
• Assess and improve processes.
• Clarify responsibilities and reporting lines.
• Professionalize reporting and governance.
• Identify opportunities for automation and AI.
• Lead the organization through a period of change.
• Help define what the future function should look like.

Most importantly, they can help answer a fundamental question:

What does the permanent role actually need to look like?

After several months, the organization may have a much clearer picture.

Perhaps it needs a senior strategic leader. Perhaps it needs a more hands-on manager. Some responsibilities may have moved elsewhere or been automated. Or the function may need to be redesigned altogether.

Now the organization can recruit based on evidence rather than assumptions.

There is sometimes a perception that interim management is an expensive solution.

But a permanent hire is not automatically the cheaper option.

A wrong hire can be significantly more expensive: recruitment costs, onboarding, lost productivity, management time, disruption to the team, delayed transformation and, ultimately, having to restart the recruitment process.

There is another risk that is often overlooked:

You can hire a very good person into the wrong structure.

Even the right person can struggle when responsibilities are unclear, processes are inefficient or the organization itself is still changing.

An interim manager gives the organization the opportunity to create that structure first.

The assignment is therefore not simply about buying time.

It is about using that time to create value, reduce risk and prepare the organization for its next phase.

Organizations are changing faster than traditional job descriptions.

AI and automation are reshaping processes and responsibilities. Companies are redesigning functions, introducing new operating models and continuously reassessing which capabilities they need internally.

A job description written two or three years ago may no longer reflect what the organization needs today — let alone tomorrow.

Before starting a permanent recruitment process, it is therefore worth asking:

• Is the function clearly defined?
• Is the organizational structure stable?
• Are responsibilities clear?
• Do we know what success looks like in the role?
• Are we hiring for today’s problems or tomorrow’s organization?
• Could technology or automation significantly change the role?
• Would an interim manager help us create clarity first?

If several of these questions are difficult to answer, it may be too early to recruit permanently.

Interim management does not replace recruitment.

In many cases, it can actually improve the recruitment process.

Once the interim manager has created structure, improved processes and clarified responsibilities, the organization can define the permanent role much more accurately.

The process then becomes:

Assess → Stabilize → Improve → Redesign → Define the role → Recruit → Transition

Instead of simply replacing the person who left, the organization takes the opportunity to rethink what it really needs.

This may result in a different job profile, a different level of seniority or even a different organizational structure.

And that is where interim management and permanent recruitment can complement each other.

The objective is not to choose between the two.

The objective is to use each at the right moment.

My experience has taught me that sometimes the smartest decision is not to rush into a permanent hire.

It is to bring in an experienced interim manager who can create structure, improve the function, lead the transition and help define what the organization really needs next.

Then, when the time is right, you recruit the permanent person into a role that is clear, structured and set up for success.

Because the objective should not simply be to fill the vacancy.

The objective should be to make the right long-term decision for the organization.

And sometimes, that means hiring an interim manager first.

If you are facing a vacancy in a function that is still evolving, going through a transition or not yet fully structured, it may be worth taking a step back before starting a permanent recruitment process.

If you would like to discuss your situation and explore whether interim management could be the right solution, feel free to get in touch for an informal, no-obligation conversation.

Sometimes, a short conversation is all it takes to clarify what the organization really needs next.